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Thursday, May 29, 2014

How to Appear Like You Got It Together (When You Feel Like a Wreck), by Lauren Bradley

When I finished my library degree, my entire life and mental
well-being was consumed with finding a job. When that mystical unicorn of a full-time,
permanent library job finally appeared, it dawned on me that I had spent no
time thinking about what comes next. The most uncomfortable part of adapting to
my first professional job was coming to grips with the volume of things I still
didn’t know. Luckily, I‘ve always thrived on being thrown in the deep end and,
over the past couple years, have managed to cultivate a reputation as someone who
knows what she is doing, both within my organization and the larger library community.
These are my tips for giving the impression you know what you are doing, even
if you feel like you have no idea:

“Fake it
‘til you make it” is probably hands down the best advice I’ve ever been
given. I first heard this advice as a stage actor in my teens, as a method to
combat stage fear. Be confident, be assertive. If you visibly look like a wreck
(slouching, mumbling, avoiding eye contact) and act like a wreck (not
participating in conversations, giving “I don’t knows” without any follow-up
suggestions) people will assume you are indeed a wreck, or at least a newbie
not worth taking seriously. Faking it however does not imply you should lie
which brings me to my second point:

“I don’t
know the answer to that question, but let me find someone who can.” As a
systems librarian, I get asked a technology question that I can’t answer to at
least once a day. Never lie about or misrepresent your knowledge or skills.
Instead try to connect staff or patrons with people in other departments who
can better help them. If no such person exists, do some research and give an
honest answer about what you are or are not capable of. Even if you can’t help
someone in the end, they will appreciate an honest and considerate answer.

Share the
knowledge and skills you do have. Even when you feel like you know nothing,
the truth is you do have a lifetime of experience and skills behind you. Don’t
be afraid to speak up at your organization about your ideas. Even if they are
turned down, you will still learn something about the organization, and they
will learn something about you. If you have a skill others don’t, share with
them, either informally (“hey did you know there is a shortcut for that?”) or
more formally (hold a workshop in the office, or submit a conference proposal).
I’ve learned that I really enjoy doing staff training (previously a pretty
minor part of my job) and that a silly Microsoft certification in high school
has turned out to be a really good base of knowledge to pass on to others.

Realize
that you don’t need to actually know all the things. Keep a tab on emerging
trends and issues in the field, but don’t try to become an expert in all of
them. Explore more deeply the ones most interesting or relevant to your
position, other ones can be merely observed as they develop. If you think
something is particularly relevant to your organization but you don’t have the
time or prior knowledge to understand it further, (politely) direct it to
colleague who might be a better person for that topic.

Surround
yourself with an interesting community. Both online and offline, try to
connect with a variety of people you find inspiring. Find people who are in the
same place in their careers, some who are few years further out, and some more
who are even further out than that. Respect people’s boundaries, but if they
are willing try to get to know them as a whole person, not just a librarian. Include people in this community who are in a similar place in their career, but are in
a completely different field.

Now that I’m a few years into my librarian career, I feel a bit more comfortable at work, but I still find this list helpful… and
I’d love to hear how others manage to get through it when they feel like a
wreck.

Lauren Bradley is a
Systems Librarian at the Center for Jewish History in New York City. She
received her MLIS from the Pratt Institute in 2011. She tweets @BibliosaurusRex and tumbles at librarianlauren.tumblr.com.

8 comments:

I think your second and fourth bullet points are spot on! As a Reference Librarian people assume I know it all, I don't, but if I don't know the answer I've gathered a collection of websites and resources to find the answer. When it comes to local information since I'm not from the area I have no problem handing it off to those who live in the area.

Love your input! I recently started in a position after receiving my MSIS and find that I know more than I give myself credit for most times. Fake it til you make it for sure, but even moreso, something I heard on a TED talk is Believe it til you make it. We, as information professionals, definitely have the skill set that many others do not. I'm excited to learn along away...and definitely form connections with other info pros to help me out along the way. ;)

One of the really handy things about blogging through my first year as a librarian is looking back at all the things that really made me struggle and seeing how I've overcome them now. I think if you can keep a list of things that make you stumble and look over it every now and then, you'll see that your skills are growing and feel really encouraged.

Not being an American (and not being a young librarian but an old hand) I find it really strange and rather sad that young professionals in your country have to pretend that they know everything and can do everything . I find it disconcerting that dishonest behaviour (faking) is being recommended. Time for me to retire, I suppose...

If you are set on deliberately misinterpreting this piece, nothing is going to stop you. However, "fake it til you make it" isn't an encouragement to lie. It may be hard for someone who is close to retirement age to remember the insecurities of early career, but acting confident even when your not is likely something you did, too. I'm not near retirement (mid-career now) and I sometimes find the need to act more confident than I feel. Fake til you make it let's you get past the insecurities and onto the work at hand.

I'm not sure what your country of origin is, but "fake it til you make it" is definitely an American idiom that does not at all imply you should be dishonest, it's about confidence. If you read the entire point, you will see I explicitly warn against young professionals misrepresenting their knowledge and skill set.

'Fake it til you make it''...never a truer word spoken, especially resonating with me! Thanks for your blog, I just stumbled upon it.....I am an (unqualified) "librarian" working at a primary school in China. For reasons unknown, I have had the job of creating and opening an English school library fall into my lap a year ago. I'm still treading water and it's till in planning stages! Hoping the blog comes in handy for my sanity....